McMaster Wins By A Rouge In Wild Canadian University Football Game

Total Pro Sports – Sticking with the theme of amazing football endings after Oil City, Mount Mansfield, and John Glen High School all pulled out miraculous (and perhaps even a little unusual) wins in the dying seconds over the last month, we travel north of the boarder for what may be the ugliest (but entertaining nonetheless) finish to a football game ever.

Good Ol’ Canadians and their wacky football rules.

It was a cold Saturday night in Windsor, Ontario as the hometown Lancers were taking on the McMaster Marauders in some Canadian University football action. With the score tied at 14-14, the game headed into overtime. For CIS games, the Kansas Playoff format (similar to the NCAA overtime rule) is used, giving each team one possession starting at their own 35-yard-line.

The Lancers had the ball first, but quarterback Greg Orsini was picked off by Michael Daly. That gave the Marauders an opportunity to win it with only a single point needed.

Beginning from the 35-yard-line, they were able to advance the ball another 21 yards before attempting a 14-yard field goal. That is when things got crazy.

McMaster kicker Andy Roy had his field goal blocked. The ball was caught in the end zone by a Windsor player, who returned it the distance for the touchdown, and the win. Or so they thought.

A flag was thrown on the play for a “push in the rear” as the officials described it. The offense occurred in the end zone, and according to Canadian rules, that results in a rouge, giving the University of McMaster Marauders the 15-14 victory.

For those of you unfamiliar with the “rouge,” it is a single point awarded when the ball is kicked into (or through) the end zone on a missed field goal, punt or kickoff, and is not returned or kicked out. You may have heard ESPN’s Chris Berman make references to the “rouge” jokingly. In this case, that single point was no laughing matter for a disappointed Lancers football club.